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TWL Chapter 217: Sacrifice and Strategy
🕑 Added 2024-09-19 22:26:04 +0000 UTCWhile everyone at Hagge Castle was celebrating their apparent success, a dark force was beginning to brew not far away in the Pontar Valley.
In a camp in the middle of the forest, the non-human troop that had brought the threat of the forktails and rotfiends to Queen Meve was reorganizing their team.
Of course, these non-human guerrillas also had a more official name: the Scoia'tael.
Compared to the last time, they are now much less.
The elves, tall and slender, had tattoos of vines and leaves on their skin. They carefully checked their bows and arrows, not forgetting their knives and spears.
The dwarves, for their part, sharpened their axes using rocks as whetstones. They laughed and joked with the elves, without any sign of the tension that existed between their fellows outside this camp.
The halflings, similar in stature to the dwarves but with slimmer limbs, organized their leather slings, stuffing polished stones into their pouches one by one.
Even smaller than dwarves and halflings, the gnomes were tasked with logistical tasks, such as helping to organize the team.
"You are more agile, why don't you act as scouts? Someone always needs to stand guard." A dwarf suddenly said to the halfling next to him. "Leave the charge to us, after all, you are not good at fighting."
The halfling curled his lips. "It's not that we are not good at fighting, we just like peace. But humans didn't let us go. This time, I will show you how brave the halflings can be to protect their families."
The dwarf wrinkled his nose and started laughing.
The leader of this Scoia'tael guerrilla was a male elf, who sat at the edge of the camp. He is wearing a red turban, and under the turban are a pair of light yellow eyes.
"Iorveth!"
Suddenly, someone called out to him, causing this leader to turn around.
"What's the matter?"
"An order came from Nilfgaard." The speaker was wearing a linen robe and looked like a sorcerer. "They want us to act immediately to interfere with the development of the meeting."
Iorveth nodded, though he kept his eyes fixed on the forest, as if he were waiting for something.
"The message has arrived too late. Even if we act now, we will not be able to disrupt the meeting."
"But we can try to destabilize the northern kingdoms."
The elf leader stared at the depths of the forest in a trance.
From the mountains to the east, the distant cry of an eagle could be heard from time to time.
From the western plain, there seemed to be a roar that sounded like a dragon.
The sun was setting, and one by one, the elves and halflings returned from the depths of the forest. They were all battered, some with minor injuries and others more seriously.
"Thirteen people are missing." The second in command reported quietly, approaching Iorveth.
The elf leader nodded gravely.
Immediately, several gnomes came to attend to and bandage the wounded.
Iorveth remained at the edge of the camp until the moon rose.
But the people he was expecting did not return.
He could no longer wait. Not because those outside were irreplaceable, but because the mission they had to accomplish was of the utmost importance.
"Come on! We'll go find them."
He selected five of his most loyal followers, and together they set off into the forest at a brisk pace. Even the night wind seemed unable to reach them.
A faint smell of blood appeared in the air.
[¡Caw! ¡Caw! ¡Caw!]
The strange sound startled Iorveth, and when he looked up, it turned out to be a group of wood crows.
This kind of animal rarely appears in such a large group.
Except, of course, when they were close to the objective of their mission. That creature was always accompanied by crows.
That meant they had accomplished their mission. They had managed to lure their target out of the forest.
But where were they?
Iorveth soon saw them.
A vine had pierced the body of one of the elves, entering through his left side and exiting through his right shoulder.
The ground around him was dyed a deep red. His abdomen was still dripping with blood.
'The blood has not yet dried up.' Iorveth thought. 'It has not been long since they were killed.'
Eight crows were pecking at the elf's corpse, feasting on its flesh.
Iorveth's furious team members rushed forward to chase away the crows and collect their comrade's body.
But a hand, trembling and full of swollen veins, stopped them.
The owner of that hand was equally disturbed, but he knew he had a greater responsibility.
"Let's not alert the target of our mission. Let's move a little further and see what we find."
The elves, though reluctant, obeyed. They knew that this was the law of the forest.
The team continued moving forward and soon found their other companions.
Some of them had their limbs eaten by wild wolves, some were buried in the ground by countless twisted plants, and some seemed to have been smashed by a huge hand.
Each of them died miserably.
"The whole army was wiped out." The adjutant said with a grim expression.
"Their mission is complete." Iorveth muttered to himself. "But we can't take them back home. That might alert the monster they sacrificed their lives to attract."
"The monster we led towards the humans, sacrificing an entire commando."
"Iorveth, is it really worth it?" An elf in the group asked, unable to contain himself. "Do you think a monster can really harm human armies?"
The leader did not answer but made a few gestures to signal everyone to retreat.
The wolves and crows had not left yet, and the corpses were still fresh. They needed to leave here as soon as possible, lest the monster really lingered nearby and found them.
"If it's an ordinary monster, it's hard to say. But if it's this monster, maybe it can really work."
Iorveth shook his head. "Anyway, I never planned to rely solely on them. No matter how powerful a monster is, it's still just that: a monster. Against an organized army, it wouldn't be able to cause much damage. I just need it to cause enough chaos to give us a chance to execute our true plan."
After clearing up his companion's doubt, Iorveth looked one last time towards the forest, towards his fallen companions. He bowed his head in respect.
"The descendants of the hill dwellers, the companions of Aen Seidhe, all fell on the path to freedom. Their blood and tears will not be shed in vain, but will only forge our sword of vengeance..."
...
Hagge Castle.
It has been several days since the end of the talks. During this time, Lann has signed various cooperation agreements with various kings. The kings also used this rare time to communicate with each other and determine the general guidelines for the next few years.
The United Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia promised to stand together with Cintra, which is beyond doubt. When Cintra fights back against Nilfgaard, they will unite their forces to resist the Black Sun together.
Redania will provide Cintra with a certain amount of war supplies, which are things that even Lann cannot buy with money; at the same time, Vizimir II also promised to use his port to provide Cintra with water transportation convenience, so that resources from other kingdoms can support Cintra in time.
Aedirn, being very close to the United Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia, will send troops to fight alongside Queen Meve against Nilfgaard, being one of the few kingdoms to offer direct military support.
Henselt, for his part, remains steadfast in his desire to first eliminate the Scoia'tael guerrillas on his own territory. However, under the supervision of the other kingdoms, King Henselt has agreed not to take advantage of the war on the front to reopen old conflicts with Aedirn. If he does, the other great nations of the north will turn on him.
In Temeria, where many non-human races live, the Scoia'tael are also beginning to show signs of rebellion. King Foltest has decided to form a special unit to eliminate the guerrillas and work with Kaedwen to crush the revolt. He has also pledged to ensure that Henselt does not act with excessive brutality, which could aggravate racial conflicts and harm the interests of all.
As for Cintra, Foltest has promised that the dwarves of Mahakam will provide equipment support, though Lann will have to negotiate with them personally.
Although Lann already has the support of dwarves such as Zoltan, Yarpen and others, the dwarves of Mahakam are technically still vassals of Foltest, although their relationship with the king is similar to that of the Eternal Fire of Novigrad with Vizimir II.
This means that even if Lann manages to reach an agreement with the dwarves, if Foltest objects, the plan may not come to fruition.
Fortunately, Lann has obtained a verbal promise from Foltest, which clears up any doubts or concerns.
Lann didn't want to ask for more. He had received direct help from three of the five participating kingdoms, including military support from two kingdoms, and Lann was already very satisfied.
He would go back and contact Marshal Vissegerd to combine the Cintra troops, and then go to Skellige to seek naval support, and the troops would be enough to fight another Battle of Sodden Hill.
It is more than enough to recapture Cintra.
When Cintra is liberated, Lann will have a country as a backing, and the available resources will also be explosively increased.
At that time, his power will increase significantly, and all the strategies he has been preparing can finally be put into action.
Lost in thought, Lann shook his head to clear it.
"Iris, which of these paintings do you think would be most suitable as gifts?"
At this time, in front of Lann were various paintings confiscated from von Everec Manor, all of which were created by Iris before and after marriage, including various themes, including portraits, landscapes, still lifes, etc.
Although the level of technique in these works did not reach what Iris had currently achieved, they were good enough to be offered as gifts.
After all, he had already made the first move with Queen Meve, and Lann had planned to send a gift to each participating king.
Hearing Lann's question, Iris was in a trance for a moment. "Sorry, I was distracted..."
"Oh?" Lann raised his eyebrows. "Are these paintings reminding you of the past days?"
Iris shook her head. "No, although the journey with you is still short, these wonderful days have made me almost forget the pain of the past..."
"I only thought about Nilfgaard… when I was in school, only the most learned knew about it. When I first married Olgierd, although there was already talk of its rapid rise, I never imagined that it would become the unified southern empire that it is today."
"It is your destined enemy, right?"
Lann nodded. "I have reasons for fighting them, and over time, those reasons have only multiplied and taken deeper root."
"I think..." Iris said. "To face an empire as powerful as that, perhaps the North also needs a great leader."
Lann raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to say 'King of the North'?"
Iris covered her mouth and chuckled. "I thought you would laugh at my strange ideas. But Lann, you can understand my meaning so smoothly, and even think of the title - could it be that you have the same idea as me?"
Lann stood still for a moment, the emotion in his eyes growing more intense.
Iris lowered her eyes. "Am I too smart? This doesn't seem to be a good thing for a lady?"
Lann looked at the soul in the painting and shook his head. "Don't put yourself down. Being brilliant is not a defect. To me, your intelligence is a pleasant surprise, a very positive thing."
The two looked into each other's eyes and, in a show of complicity, immediately looked away, focusing again on the paintings.
They soon selected three paintings that corresponded to the tastes of the recipients: one for Henselt, one for Demavend and the last for Foltest.
Comments
Axell
Thanks for the chapter 😁
